The New 'Crimson Peak' Trailer is Terrifying and Also Kind of Gorgeous

Full-length trailers for Crimson Peak, director Guillermo del Toro’s latest foray into Gothic horror have arrived, and if you are at all into the prospect of watching Tom Hiddlestonswan about in fancy period dress as an emotionally conflicted romantic with an obvious deep, dark secret, this is the movie for you.

Provided you don’t mind blood, death or things that make you jump out of your seat.

The basic gist of the story seems to be that Hiddleston and Jessica Chastainare siblings living in the world’s creepiest family estate. Hiddleston’s character, Sir Thomas Sharpe, brings home a new wife in the form of Alice in Wonderland’sMia Wasikowska and she discovers that there are some deep, dark secrets in the family’s past.

Along with what appear to be ghosts, skeletons that play the piano, bathtub faucets that spew blood, suspicious dark figures and a secret basement that may or may not actually be some kind of hellscape.

Listen up, kids: Maybe think twice when you decide to marry a man who lives in a house called “Crimson Peak”. It got that name from somewhere. Can you think of any good reasons to call your house that. No? Yeah.

Anyway, this movie is basically a haunted house story done up in period dress and covered with a lot of the gorgeous artistic flourishes that del Toro is famous for. (That is in no way a criticism, there is basically no other director working today who could make blood soaked snow that pretty.)

Hiddleston’s character seems to fall somewhere between Chastain’s and Wasikowska’s on the horrifying creepiness scale, but he’s still playing a dark and disturbing enough figure that you’ll probably be sad to learn he actually replacedSherlockstar Benedict Cumberbatch in this part. Surely, Hiddleston will be wondrous in it and everything, but just take a second and mourn what might have been there. (I have. Often.)

Oh, and here’s the international trailer, which features some different (albeit still frequently pretty gross) footage, a bit more background on the Sharpe family, and an actual look at Sons of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnam, playing a character who clearly does not trust these weirdos and their creepy house.

Crimson Peak is slated to release this October, just in time for Halloween. It’s already earning early raves from a handful of critics, including horror master Stephen King, so it’s actually possible this is going to be a horror film that’s actually worth our time. Thoughts?

Digital media type by day, Lacy has a fairly useless degree in British medieval literature, and watches entirely too much television in her free time. Ninth Doctor enthusiast and all around Whovian evangelist. Say hi on Twitter at @LacyMB.